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Nioh
by José "Ze1598" Costa / Playtime: over 95 hours Introduction Nioh at its core is a Dark Souls-like game, however it is far more than a simple clone, it manages to stand out on its own feet unlike many of its predecessors. The game is developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo. Gameplay Nioh rather than focusing on mob management most of the time the game gives player a chance for 1-on-1 fights with focus on player skill. While this doesn’t mean there won’t be handicapped fights most of the time the player can find a way to fight one enemy at a time. In terms of how you fight there’s quite some ways: melee weapons (axes, swords, spears, dual swords and kusariganas), ranged weapons (bows and guns) and even ninja weapons (like shurikens and (de)buffs items) or onmyo-style (using talismans). One important note: unlike the open-world of the SoulsBorne, Nioh is mission-based, which means each mission you’re given an entire new sandbox to explore. Below you can watch some gameplay I recorded. Difficulty For players coming from the SoulsBorne games (and if by chance you have experience with the Betas/Demo) the game will be fairly easy with some more challenging bosses here and there. However, for gamers who aren’t used to the SoulsBorne games or have a bad impression of them then this game might pose more of a fight. To put it bluntly, the game is tough but fair: just like in the SoulsBorne timing your dodges and managing your greed for damage is halfway to victory. Visual & Sound Design Visually Nioh is a stunning game as is in a regular PS4 with no major dips in performance or problems related with stuff such as textures popping out of nowhere. However, the developers give the player a choice: fps (frames per second) or resolution. Even though it’s nice to have a choice in game like Nioh where every second counts it’s pretty no-brainer to go for better fps. This choice broadens up even more if the player has both a PS4Pro and a 4K display. Below are all the different options: *Movie Mode -> Stable 1920×1080 resolution with high quality anti-aliasing at 30fps *Action Mode -> Stable 1920×1080 resolution at 60fps *Movie Mode only; 4K display -> Stable 3840×2160 resolution at 30fps *Action mode only; 4K display -> Stable 1920×1080 resolution at 60fps For the audio, Team Ninja doesn’t disappoint at all! The soundtrack is incredible and always fits the gameplay: if you’re fighting a boss you can expect the music to give you the energy rush you need to fight it, or if you’re in a calmer scenario or necessarily not in a fight then the game will play a much calmer and fitting music. For the voice-acting, it is top-notch. In many cases for Japanese games the developers give the option of either English or Japanese voices. However, in Nioh due to the british-origins of the main character, William, and the antagonist, Kelley, the game uses both Japanese and English voices. My opinion about this? It gets away with this very well. This way the game is able to balance William’s foreign-ity with the rest of the Japanese cast and background. Achievements & Trophies Verdict From my personal point of view both as a gamer and as a reviewer Nioh is an incredible game through and through. The attention to detail from the developers, and the refined systems, mechanics and gameplay make this a complete package that stands out from its peers and a must-buy for every lover of the genre. Final score: 20/20 Category:Reviews